The Aaudio Imports room was displaying gear from Acapella, Einstein, Isoclean, Stage III and Symposium. I can understand the avid following that Acapella enjoys. Teamed up with Einstein’s “The Final Cut” OTL, they sound faster and more immediate than 95% of the competition. Priced at $64,300 for the pair, the Acapella High Violon MK4 should be heard if you have a need for speed. The ion tweeter reminds me of the Hal 9000 camera in Arthur C Clarke’s 2001:

“Open the CD player, Hal”.

“Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m just the speaker. Use your remote control. And my name isn’t Hal.”

The system’s electronics included “The Source”, a balanced tube CD player, selling for $16,900. The preamp was “The Tube MKII” balanced preamp priced at $17,400. “The Final Cut” balanced OTL mono block amps are $32,700 for the pair. By the way, “The Final Cut” sports great specifications:

S/N ratio > 95dB

THD < 0.05%

Damping factor 90/8-ohm, 45/4-ohm

Output power 60 watts into 8 ohms, 45 watts into 4 ohms

Meeting Volker Bohlmeier, owner of Einstein, was fun. He really enjoys talking shop and answering questions. We discussed tubes, transistors and German singers. His choice of transistors for “The Turntable’s Choice” makes a lot of sense considering the difficulties finding low noise tubes. Einstein gets my vote for best looking electronics. The stuff is just so sexy.